Weft carrier for automatic looms



D 1937- w. H. WAKEFIELD 2,103,837

WEF'I CARRIER FOR AUTOMATIC LOOMS Filed Jan. 2, 19:57

Inventor Weflter H .wakei'iejd Attorney Patented Dec. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES 2,103,837 WEFT CARRIER FOR AUTOMATIC LOOMS Walter H. Wakefield, Worcester, Mass, assignor to Crompton &"Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of 'Massachusctts Application January 2, 1937, Serial No, 118,797

11 Claims. (01.139-207) This invention relates to improvements in bobbins for automatic looms and it is the general object of the invention to provide means whereby a resilient element may be interposed between the wound mass of weft and the holding jaws in the usual automatic shuttle.

It'has been customary heretofore to use bobbins with heads surrounded by three separate rings which are received bygrooves in a pair of spaced spring jaws mounted in the shuttle. At the time of transfer the incoming bobbin is pressed downwardly so that its rings enter the grooves while the depleted bobbin is forced downwardly out of the spring jaws. Because-of the rather wide tolerances allowable in the manufacture of jaws and rings it is found that generally there is but one of the three rings which actually holds the bobbin. The two rings which are not holding the bobbin for any particular longituclinal position of the latter in the shuttle are therefore temporarily of little value and a single ring or its equivalent interposed between the jaws and the bobbin will suffice to hold the latter.

When bobbins are made with flatbarrels to accommodate masses of weft which. are oval in transverse cross section it is necessary to maintain the major transverse axis horizontal. It is found, however, under ordinary conditions that these bobbins have a tendency to rotate in the shuttle during weaving and this rotation is objectionable because in time a part of the mass of weft will move to a position under the bottom of the shuttle and interfere with proper picking. When the shuttle is boxed the bobbin. tends to continue moving by its momentum and tends to spread the rings so that the latter momentarily lose their grip on the bottom. When the jaws spring back to normal holding relation with respect to-' the bobbin the latter is likely to be turned slightly by an action similar to that of a pawl and ratchet.

It is an important object of my present invention to make the ring which supports the bobbin suiliciently resilient to absorb the momentum of the bobbin when the shuttle is boxed and therefore prevent the bobbin momentum from being transmitted objectionably to the spring jaws. This result may be accomplished by making the holding ring in the form of a spring coil which yields slightly on itself when the shuttle is boxed.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the descriptionproceeds',,my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein a convenient embodiment of my invention is set forth,

Fig. l is a plan view of one end of a lay provided with a shuttle having my invention applied thereof the bobbin and the holding spring jaws or clips,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the bobbin looking toward the head, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig.- 4 is a vertical section on line 4--4 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown the lay L with a shuttle box B and a shuttle S to be propelled by a picker P. The latter rests against a stop ll] of the lay and serves to bring theshuttle abruptly to rest. at the end of the pick. The binder ll may be of the usual form and is held toward the shuttle by a spring l2.

The shuttle is provided with spring jaws and 2| located respectively at the front of and behind the axis of the shuttle and as shown in the present instance each jaw has two ring receiving grooves 22. The bobbin3ll has a head 3| provided with inner and outer sections 32 and 33, respectively, of relatively large diameter. spaced by an intermediate recess 34. The bobbin barrel is flat on top and bottom as indicated in Fig. 3 and has the major transverse portion thereof horizontal or parallel to the bottom of the shuttlefor the accommodation of the massfof weft W. The semi-diameter; of the weftrmeasured horizontally is greater than the distance between the axis of the bobbin and the bottom of the shuttle. It is therefore necessary to maintain the major transverse axis of the barrel horizontal in order that the non-circular weft mass may not interfere with the picking of the shuttle.

The means for holding the bobbin in the spring jaws is a coiled single wire C bent as suggested in Fig. 2. Beginning at the outer end of thehead at a pointapproximately at the top of the bobbin the wire extends around the outer section 33 as at and makes almost a complete turn, lying in a groove 38, after which it bends to the right over the recess 34 and is given another turn which. is almost complete, as at 4 I. This intermediate turn. or coil is of the same diameter as the turn 40, although this is not a necessary relation, but the turn does lies over the recess and therefore is out of contact with the wood or other material of which the bobbin is made. The wire again bends to the right and extends around the inner section 32 as at 42, lying in a groove 39 and terminating near the top of the bobbin toform another turn which is almost complete.

The ends and 46 adjacent the outer and Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the head end inner ends of the head, respectively, and also the oblique portions 4'! lie along a part of the head corresponding to the top or flattened surface 48 of the bobbin barrel 35. As viewed in Fig. 2 the ends and diagonal portions of the wire are in the upper side of the bobbin, but the parts are so related that they may also be on the under side. Since it is necessary to insert the bobbin into the shuttle with the major transverse axis of the barrel horizontal the circular parts of the turn 4| will always be in position to enter one or another of the grooves 22. The turns 40 and 42 tightly grip the sections 33 and 32, respec-' tively, and hold the Wire C against turning relative to the head.

In operation, the shuttle will be boxed as usual and will be stopped abruptly when striking the picker P. The bobbin, because of its momentum, will tend to continue its movement, but the resilience of the intermediate turn 4| will absorb this momentum without causing any appreciable spreading action on the part of the box. As already stated the intermediate turn 4| is not in contact with the wood of the bobbin and is therefore free to move to a slight extent in a longitudinal direction relatively to the head of the bobbin. As contemplated herein the turns 40 and 42 will not enter the grooves 22 but serve merely to hold the bobbin properly aligned with the axis of the shuttle.

The replenishing features for inserting the bobbin into the shuttleautomatically are not shown herein but may if desired be as indicated in co-pending application Serial No. 97,967.

The distance between the turns 40 and 42 is larger than the distance measured along the axis of the bobbin and including grooves 22. A plurality of these grooves are used in order to permit the bobbin to take up one oranother of several relative positions in the shuttle which may be rendered necessary by the conditions of transfer. The groove 22 may be similar to those used in spring jaws such as'have been customarily used in automatic looms for many years.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided means for introducing a resilient ele- 'ment between the bobbin and the spring jaws of the shuttle for the purpose of absorbing the momentum of the bobbin when the shuttle is boxed. As a result the jaws are subjected to practically no spreading at this time, and the bobbin does not rotate. The flat barrel therefore maintains its proper angular'relation with respect to the shuttle and the wound mass'of Weft is kept from turning to a position where it will project below the bottom of the shuttle.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a weft carrier for an automatic loom, a

pair of spring jaws, a weft carrying bobbin having a head, supporting means for the bobbin having portions thereof out of engagement with the jaws and in close engagement with the head and having other portions thereof resilient and spaced from the head and engaging the jaws to constitute the supporting relation between the jaws and bobbin, said other portions being yieldable in a direction parallel to the axis of the bobbin.

2. In a weft carrier for an automatic loom, a pair of spring jaws, a weft carrying bobbin,

' oblique portion.

means having two spaced parts extending around and in close holding engagement with respect to the bobbin and spaced from the jaws and said means having an intermediate resilient part movable along the axis of the bobbin and in holding relation with respect to the jaws to constitute the supporting relation between the jaws and bobbin. 7 i

3; In a weft carrier for an automatic loom, a pair of spring jaws, a weft carrying bobbin, and a single wire extending around the bobbin and having three turns the outer of which grips the bobbin tightly and are spaced from the jaws the intermediate turn of which is resilient and mov- I able relatively to the bobbin in a direction along the axis thereof, said intermediate turn alone having holding relation with respect to the jaws.

4. In a weft carrier for an automatic loom, a pair of spring jaws, a weft carrying bobbin having a head provided with a peripheral groove, a single piece of wire having three turns, the outer turns extending around and having close holding relation with respect to the head on opposite sides of thegroove and being spaced from the jaws, and an intermediate turn lying over the groove out of contact with the bobbin and being resilient in a direction along the axis of the bobbin, said intermediate turn only having holding relation with respect to the jaws.

5. Ina weft carrier for an automatic loom, a

pair of spring jaws, a bobbin having a weft carrying barrel the transverse horizontal axis of which is greater than the vertical axis, a single supporting wire having three turns extending around the bobbin, the intermediate turn being connected to the outer turns by oblique portions,

, the outer turns having tight holding relation with respect to the bobbin and the intermediate portion being movable relatively to the bobbin in a direction parallel to the axis of the bobbin,

theoblique portions of the wire lying to one side of a. diameter of the bobbin which is parallel'to the major transverse axis of the barrel.

6. In a weft carrier for an automatic loom, a pair of spring'jaws, a bobbin having a weft carrying barrel the transverse horizontal axis of which is greater than the vertical axis, a single wire extending around the bobbin and having spaced turns certain of which are in close holding relation with respect to the bobbin, one of the turns being resilient and movable relatively to the bobbin in a direction parallel to the axis of the bobbin, said one turn having a circular plane portion extending around more than half of the bobbin and connected to another turn by an '7. In a weft carrier for an automatic loom, a pair of spring jaws, a bobbin having a head between the jaws, a weft carrying barrel for the bobbin having a long transverse axis substantially parallel to a line joining the centers of the jaws and a relatively short axis'perpendicular to the first line, and a holding wire having turns extending around the head, one of said turns being in close holding relation with respect to the head and another turnv being resilient and movable relatively to the head in a direction parallel to the axis of the bobbin, said other turn being connected to the first named turn by an oblique portion and having a circular part extending around more than half the circumference of the head, the oblique portion lying entirely on one side of a diameter of said other turn parallel to the transverse axis of the barrel having the greater dimension.

8. In a bobbin for an automatic loom, a head,

and a single wire extending around said head and having portions thereof in close holding relation with the head and having other portions spaced from the first named portions movable relatively to the head in a direction parallel tothe axis of the bobbin. 9. In a bobbin for automatic looms, a. head with a peripheral groove therein, supporting means extending around the head and having portions in tight holding relation with respect to the head and having other portions integral with the first portions and extending over the groove, said other portions being resilient and movable relatively to the head and first named portions in a direction along the axis of the bobbin.

10. In a bobbin for an automatic shuttle, a weft carrying barrel having a horizontal transverse axis which is greater than the vertical axis thereof, a head for the bobbin, and a holding wire extending around the head and having turns certain of which are in close holding relation with respect to the head, another turn of the wire being resilient and movable relatively to the head in a direction parallel to the axis of the bobbin and. connected to one of the other turns by an oblique portion of the wire, the resilient turn having a circular plane portion extending around more than half of the circumference of the head, and the oblique portion lying to one side of a diameter of said other turn parallel to the horizontal transverse axis of the bobbin.

11. In a weft carrier for an automatic loom, a pair of spring jaws, a bobbin having a weft carrying barrel the transverse horizontal axis of which is greater than the vertical axis, a single holding wire extending around the bobbin having three spaced turns the outer of which have close holding relation with respect to the bobbin and the intermediate turn being resilient and movable relatively to the bobbin in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis thereof, said intermediate turn being connected to the outer turn by oblique portions which lie on the same side of a diam.- eter of said intermediate turn parallel to the horizontal transverse axis of the barrel.

WALTER H. WAKEFIELD. 

